


Corruption at the Core

by brunettachoppa687, TTICSY (phantomofthefandoms)



Series: Role Reverse AU [4]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Depression, M/M, Self-Hatred, Unhappy Ending, Vlad is a mess, ghost cores are a thing, ghost hunger, hints of unwanted mating, non-con biting talk, sorta - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-23
Updated: 2015-09-23
Packaged: 2018-04-23 02:43:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4859996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/brunettachoppa687/pseuds/brunettachoppa687, https://archiveofourown.org/users/phantomofthefandoms/pseuds/TTICSY
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Danny woke up the next morning, he was greeted by Tucker’s unimpressed expression… and Val’s glare.  What–?</p><p>Danny sat up.  He was on his bed, in his loft over Andromeda.  “Huh?”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Corruption at the Core

**Author's Note:**

> This episode contains graphic description of ghost hunger and feeding near the end and it is NOT pretty, you have been warned.

When Danny woke up the next morning, he was greeted by Tucker’s unimpressed expression… and Val’s glare.  What–?

Danny sat up.  He was on his bed, in his loft over Andromeda.  “Huh?”

“You go off investigating a newborn rogue ghost with HUNGER, ALONE, and look at what happens!” Val yelled.  “You got attacked, ALMOST got discovered at the hospital if not for your emergency medical bracelet, which means we had to cover your butt and drag your sorry ass home, and on top of it all…  you got MARKED?!  WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!”

“Uh…  Nothing more then usual… I think… wait, MARKED?”  

Danny sat up quickly, hand flying to his throat were sure enough, there was a large, faint scar.  He paled, breath coming in and out fast as he started to hyperventilate.  “Oh god, that happened, that really happened, shit shit shi–!”

“Calm down,” Tucker snapped.  “We’ll go see Clockwork.  Maybe it’s no big deal, maybe it’s nothing.  We’ll deal with it.”

Danny nodded, dazed.  “R-right… yeah…”

Tucker huffed and sat down beside him on the bed.  “Dude, I know I put you up to this and I feel terrible…” he muttered.  He looked at his best friend in concern.  “Like, what the hell kind of newborn ghost could do something like that to you?  How big was the thing?!”

“No… not very big.  Looked like he died in his… I don’t know, early twenties maybe?  Barely twenty at all.  Electrocuted… something like that…”

Danny shuddered as he got lost in the foggy memories, fingers tracing over his new scar lightly, like he couldn’t stop touching it.  “You don’t get it… he’s a fire core, a PURE fire core.  His eyes were red and his fangs… I’ve never seen fangs that big, they were bigger than Dora’s… I… he…”

Danny trailed off, eyes bleeding green for a moment before Tucker snapped him out of it.  “Dude, calm your D, okay?” the other man said.  “I thought you liked that Vlad kid.”

Danny’s hand flew away from his scar like it burned, cheeks flaming pink.  “I do!  You know this has nothing to do with that!  Ask Val, I’ve been the biggest bad in the Ghost Zone since Pariah Dark, but I’m NOT a dominant ghost!” he snapped.  “I’m called the Peace Keeper for a reason!  There has never once been a ghost that was suddenly my… my equal or even able to DO what that thing did!”

“He’s right,” Val agreed, crossing her arms, looking troubled.  “Ghosts court and mate and feed and do all that in a primal nature.  Danny’s managed to stay out of it because he found no interest in those below him, and no one who was equal – like Clockwork or Nocturne – are available or interested.  No one has ever been above the food chain for Danny, but now there is this KID, who with one fell swoop, can MARK him?”

She gave Danny a worried look.  “We need to talk to Clockwork and we need to be CAREFUL.  This thing is a fire core and is going to become powerful.  He fed on you FIRST and marked you as well, so he can certainly feed on others, but I guarantee you he is gonna learn quick that it’s not the same… and he’ll come looking for you.  And the moment he’s strong enough, the moment he realizes what he could DO… well, I shouldn’t have to explain what might happen to you…”

Tucker blinked, staring up at Valerie.  “Wait.  I’m sorry, WHAT happens to him?” he demanded in disbelief.  “We’re not on the same page here.  What could he do to Danny?!”

The halfa’s hand flew back to his scar, eyes wide and face pale, so Val answered for him.  

“A strong enough ghost… especially a core that trumps Danny’s, could turn that mark, into a mating bite,” she replied reluctantly.  “He could FORCE Danny to be his mate, and make him submit… if he gets that powerful.”

Tucker jumped up from the bed.  “Ohhhhhh no, I am NOT letting some newbie chunk of ectoplasm force DANNY to be his bitch!  Danny’s one of the most powerful ghosts in the world!  There has to be some way to track this fanged rookie down.”

He looked at his friend.  “You think you could find him again?  If we caught him and contained him, he wouldn’t be much of a threat.”

“The venom is still in Danny’s system.  If we went after him now, he could turn Danny on us with a simple ‘PLEASE,’” Val said with a frown, crossing her arms.  “Even after the effects are worn off, the venom will still be there.  It won’t have much control over Danny anymore, not unless renewed, but it will make him think twice about fighting the ghost.  No, Danny needs to stay as far away from this thing as possible.”

“So, what do you suggest we do?”

“Wait…”  Danny concluded, pulling his knees to his chest.  “We watch, and we wait.  Next time I see him, I’ll press my panic button, alert you to where I am.  In the meantime… I need to see Clockwork.  Maybe even Ember, she’s a feeder with a mate, she might…  she might have some advice…”

Tucker took out his smartphone and opened an app linked to the mini Fenton-probes back at the headquarters.  “I’ll send her a message.  All I gotta do is type it out and send out the probe with her location and–”

Valerie sighed and folded her arms.  “Yeah, great.  I’ll be out patrolling around the hospital.”

“Wait, what?  Danny JUST said–”

“I know what Danny said, but if I can get a tag on that little bastard he’ll be a lot easier to track.  Plus, Vlad is still recovering from the portal blast; he’s still prone to possession.”

“VLAD!”  Danny cried, starting to crawl out of bed.  “I told him I would stay with him last night and I never showed up!  I need to go see him–!”

“HOLD IT!”  Val snapped.  “You’re not going ANYWHERE near that hospital till I give the all clear.  YOU are going to see Ember and Clockwork and lay low for the next few days, you understand me?”

“B-but–”

“I’m sure Tucker will tell Vlad what happened… mostly,” she said with a shrug.  “Don’t worry about it, I’ll look after the guy.  You can call or skype him when you can, but for now, you need to focus on you.”

The huntress opened the French doors and jumped off the balcony.  

Tucker shrugged and glanced back at Danny, the roar of her engines growing fainter in the distance.  “If it makes you feel better, I can drop in to see him too every once and awhile,” he offered.

“Yeah… thanks,” Danny sighed, slowly getting up from the bed and pulling on his jeans.  He moved slow and sluggish, making Tucker frown slightly.  

“You still drugged?”

“… A little.  Val’s right, I should stay with Clockwork until this passes.”  He smiled slightly, shrugging.  “Hey, this way I can see Frostbite, and Ember’s new baby.  It could… could be good for me.”

“And if the ghost shows up there?  In the Zone?”

Danny snorted.  “You KNOW Clockwork won’t let anything happen.  Or any of the others for that matter.  I’ll be alright.”

“Well, good.  I swear, I’d kill for a teacher like Clockwork or Frostbite!”

Danny snickered.  “I thought that’s what you had Technus for~?”

“Oh, shut up man, you know what I mean,” Tucker snorted, shoving him and plopping back down on the bed.  “Technus is great but other than spinning a few circuits there’s not much MORE he can do!  He’s a great teacher, really!  It’s just such a cool concept, being the protege of a master of time and a king of the Far Frozen…”  

Danny laughed, sitting down beside him.  “Eh, it’s not that great really.  Lots of high expectations, responsibilities…”

He frowned, looking down at his hands.  “It’s… a little lonely sometimes, you know?  How do they even do this?  So few spirits taking on such big duties… Will I end up like Clockwork one day?  Hidden away, in a tower somewhere… alone?”

He sighed, rubbing his face with his hands.  “Ughhhh, why am I even thinking about this now?”

Tucker made a face.  “Well… I could guess why.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I mean, you’re kinda in a tough spot right now with the whole ghost-versus-human romances,” the other man said, frowning in concern.  “You LIKE Vlad, you even say you’re in love with him… but then this other random fire core comes around and marks you with the potential to be your mate.  Paulina NEVER gave me this kind of trouble and I still had headaches at times.  I can’t imagine what this might be like for you.”

Danny groaned, flopping back on the bed like a distressed teenager.  “Love SUCKS man!  At least you managed to grab the girl of your dreams!  Heck, she was even your high school sweetheart for crying out loud…”

A deep frown crossed his lips.  “I’m beginning to wonder if I should just… STOP.”

“Stop what?”

“Trying,” Danny sighed, turning his head to look at Tucker.  “Wouldn’t it just be easier if I could just… just stop?”

The brown-skinned man stared at him.  “Wow… this whole thing really got you good…” he murmured.  “I have NEVER heard you actually TALK about giving up…”

Danny huffed.  “Maybe… maybe not give up, no.  I just think, maybe I should stop thinking about it so much?  Stop worrying about being alone or about my feelings for this person or that ghost and just… just live.”

He sat up, brows furrowed in determination.  “I think Val was right, Tucker.  I think it’s time I focused on myself for a change…”

Tucker punched him playfully on the shoulder.  “That’s the spirit!  Man, I can’t tell you how good it feels to hear you say that!” he told Danny, beaming happily at him.  “You’re always thinking about other people and making sacrifices!  Let me and Val take care of Amity for a change.  You go see those screaming cyborg babies and chat about feeding, and don’t worry about a thing.  We’ll handle it.”

Danny smiled back, happy and carefree.  “It’s been awhile since I’ve gone to the Ghost Zone for something other than just training or business.  It will be nice to explore like the old days!”

He hopped up off the bed, looking lighter than he had in awhile, free.  “I’ll be back in a week!  That’s when Vlad is released from the hospital.  I can call and skype with him from the zone and just let him know that I had to take it easy for awhile after the… well, the ghost attack.”

He shrugged slightly at Tucker.  “It will be nice not living alone for awhile.  But before that, vacation!”

 

~*~

 

//Oh god oh god OH GOD what have I DONE?!//

Vlad’s room was dark, the air practically rippling with heat as he curled up on his side, his muscles cramping with tension.  The lights flickered with paranormal pressure.  He could still feel that sweet, tangy stickiness of Phantom’s blood pouring down his throat… and it had tasted so GOOD… Oh god, he felt like he was going to be SICK!

What kind of monster had he become?!

Vlad shivered, arms clasping around his belly.  “Ooooh okay, c-calm down…” he whispered.  “I-It… it’ll be fine.  Nobody’s come to get you yet… you’re going to be FINE…”

//And what if they find out?!//

“They won’t!!” Vlad yelped, sweat dripping down his back.

//But what if they do?//  “They CAN’T!”

//And if they do, you’ll kill them…//

Vlad’s eyes shimmered red.  “ **I’ll kill them** – NO!  NO!!” he shrieked, grabbing at his skull.  This voice, this cursed VOICE!  It lingered in his brain like a foul stench and tempted him with the pure power that it promised it possessed… brought the memories back to the forefront of his mind, the memory of sinking his fangs into the city’s hero and sucking him down like a glass of cool water…

“STOP!!” Vlad yelled.

The fluorescent strip – flickering already – finally exploded overhead, showering sparks down onto his bed.  He curled up even tighter, trying to protect himself.  This was his fault!  This was all his fault…!

Suddenly, the door opened – and cool hallway air and blast-furnace temperatures mixed, wind whipping up a storm in the room.

“Good LORD!” Tucker yelped.

The president-to-be of Fentonworks pushed his glasses back up onto his nose, ran down the hallway, and grabbed a fire extinguisher off the wall.  Racing back to Vlad’s room, he pulled the pin and opened fire; harsh sizzling and a cry of surprised pain split the air as the young man was sprayed with thick white foam.  The lights stopped fizzling and the temperature dropped, but Tucker whipped out his ecto-gun and fired off a few shots for good measure.  POW POW POW!

The shots left blackened marks on the wall… and the room was silent.

“Phew…!” Tucker sighed, wiping his forehead and putting his gun away.  “Kid, you’re practically a magnet for malignant spirits… It’s a good thing I decided to check up on you– oh man!”

He recoiled from Vlad’s terrified, stiffened body.  Cobalt eyes stared emptily at the wall, his entire room stinking of burning plaster, cold sweat, and…

Urine?

“Oh geez…”

~*~

Ten minutes later, Vlad had been given a cold bath, a fresh hospital gown, and an ice pack on his forehead, lying as if in shock on his newly changed sheets.  Tucker walked back in – with the permission of a nurse – and closed the door.  “Hey, kiddo…” he murmured.

He put a bundle of daisies in a vase beside Vlad’s bed.  “You doing okay…?”

Vlad swallowed, cringing from the pain of his dry throat.  “No…” he rasped.  After a moment, he remembered he was supposed to have been possessed.  “Thank you, though… this has been happening way too often for my taste…”

“Yeah, I can see that…”  Tucker said with a grimace, sitting down in the chair next to the bed.  “Sorry about the whole… you know.”

A moment of uncomfortable silence passed, before Tucker sighed.  “Listen, kid, I just want you to know that this WILL pass, okay?  Val and I are gonna look after you till you get out of the hospital, no worries.”

Vlad frowned, looking troubled.  He turned to look at Tucker.  “What about Danny?”  he rasped.  “He… never showed up last night.  At least, I don’t think he did… I was pretty worn out…”

Tucker froze for a moment, then sighed.  Danny told him to tell Vlad as much of the truth as possible, so he figured he wouldn’t sugar coat things.  Still…

“Danny… Danny was attacked by a ghost on the way home last night,” Tucker said flatly, looking away for a moment.  “He’s alright, but he needs to rest.  He’ll come see you before you get released in a week, and he said he’d call, but… yeah…”

There was a moment of silence…

And then Vlad slowly felt his blood run cold.

“W…What did… you say…?” he whispered.  His eyes stared blankly past Tucker.

“Danny had a run in with a ghost last night.  It’s nothing major, I promise,” Tucker said, standing back up to pace the room a little bit, unaware of Vlad’s slowly rising blood pressure.  “He’s uh, just a little banged up, he’ll be just fine.  Just needs bed rest, you know the deal…”

For the first time since the accident, Vlad felt really and truly COLD.

When he spoke again, his voice came out completely even, if an octave lower than it normally was.  “What happened?” he asked quietly.

“Ah…”  Tucker hesitated a moment, thoughtful.  He’d have to bend the truth here a bit, but not too much, he supposed.  “Well… let’s just say a ghost caught him by surprise and uh… took a bite out of him.  You know, one of the more rabid ghoulies, I guess you could say, haha… ha…”

Vlad felt… strangely dizzy.

It couldn’t be.  No.  No, it wasn’t possible.  Wait.

“I… I was almost in an accident myself when they turned on their first full sized portal.  It’s too dangerous, Vlad.”

“One day I might be more involved in Fentonworks, but right now my folks are preparing my old friend Tuck to take over.”

“Oh crap, I forgot!  I had a meeting with my editor this evening!”

“Hang on Vlad, I’m gonna bring you back to me.  Just hang on…”

The silver-haired boy felt like he was about to pass out.  It made sense.  Too much sense.  He himself was proof that a half-ghost could exist.  Phantom had been around for approximately ten years, synching up with the same timeframe that the Fentonworks portal got up and running.  Danny Fenton… Fenton.  Phantom.

“I’m gonna be sick…” Vlad whispered, head falling into his hands.

“Whoa whoa, hey!”  Tucker rushed over, moving the ice pack to the back of Vlad’s neck to help ease his nausea.  “Do you need me to get a nurse?  Or a bucket?  Hang on!”

Tucker ran into the bathroom and grabbed the empty bin, quickly bringing back and shoving it into Vlad’s hands.  

“Here you go, kid, deep breaths.  In and out, in and out…”

He rubbed his hand along Vlad’s back soothingly, easily misinterpreting what had the young man so upset.  “Hey, really, he’s okay!  He told me to let you know that he would call later, so it’s okay, everything’s fine– oh god, you’re actually throwing up.  O-Okay, that’s fine too!”

Vlad’s fingers gripped the edges of his bucket so hard they were turning white, bile dripping from his lips and the thick taste of vomit coating his mouth.  “This can’t be happening…!” he whispered hoarsely, and heaved again.  The sound of putrid fluids hitting the bottom of the bin made even Tucker back off.  Vlad coughed, trying to clear his lungs to no avail; his breath had abandoned him.  He started to hyperventilate…!

“Ooookay, I’m going to go get a nurse!”  Tucker said in a rush, voice high and slightly panicked.  “You just, uh, wait right there!  NURSE!!  NUUUURSE!!”

The man rushed out of the room, before doubling back with a bottle of water he had grabbed from a nearby cart and tossing it on the bed for Vlad as an afterthought.  He ran back out again, his calls for help echoing off the walls.

Meanwhile, even more vomit hit the bottom of the bucket.  The fact that he had attacked Phantom was bad enough… but he had attacked DANNY.  Those were Danny’s lips he had kissed, Danny’s neck he had pierced, Danny’s lukewarm blood that was churning in his stomach…

Vlad heaved until there was nothing left in his stomach to come up.  

Tucker returned quickly with a nurse, who hurriedly checked his pupil dilation and helped to relax his diaphragm, then she added a new drip bag to his IV.  A few minutes later, Vlad felt his muscles relax, his mind go fuzzy.  The monster inside him shrieked with fury; the young man clenched down on it, trying to convince himself that the drugs would help.  Even so, he felt his body start to sweat out the dosage…

In a few minutes, he’d be sober again.  Vlad hated it.  He hated ALL of this…

Nonetheless, he went quiet, silently accepting of whatever fate might bring.  Tucker cleared his throat awkwardly, glancing at the deadly pale youth and back at the nurse.  “Is he, uh…?”

“He should be fine for a little while,” the lady replied, taking the full bucket away.  “Call me if anything else happens.”

“Yeah, of course.  Thanks.”  

Tucker watched her go, then waited a few long moments before going back to his previously vacated seat.  He watched Vlad for a moment, just seeing how he was doing.  After a long while, it seemed like some color was coming back to his cheeks and he looked a little more cohesive… sorta.  Tucker had a few questions he wanted to ask, but he wasn’t sure he should now.  He didn’t want to upset the guy, but still.  He NEEDED to know…

“Hey, Vlad?”  he asked softly.  “Could I ask you a question?  About uh, the ghost that possessed you…”

Tucker turned his gaze away when the young man’s eyes shifted towards him.  “You see, Phantom came across some new uh… information.  I just want to cross reference some things by you, you know?  Only if you’re up for it of course!”

Vlad’s dead eyes glanced away, staring at the blank, featureless wall.  “Why not…” he croaked quietly.  All of the fight had drained from his body.  “Ask away…”

“Alright…”  Tucker hesitated a moment longer, then just sighed.  Best to just get it over with he assumed.  “So, when that ghost possessed you… did you feel anything strange?  Besides the heat?”

Vlad blinked slowly.  “Like…?”

“Hunger.”

His tired cobalt eyes flickered with the memory.  “…Yeah…” he murmured, not caring whether he gave anything away or not.  “There was hunger… and this haze… a haze that told me everything was okay.  That I could do what I wanted… that it would make me feel good if I did something…”

Tucker nodded, confirming what they sort of already knew.  “Yeah, thought as much… A feeder.”

Vlad didn’t say anything, but the older man could sense his questioning thoughts.  “A feeder is a ghost that consumes the energy of other ghosts,” he told the kid.  “Some ghosts need more energy than others and need to feed.  I guess you could think of them as, well, vampires in a sense, but not as bad.”

“Not as… bad?”

“Naw, most of the ghosts I’ve encountered are feeders.  It’s actually more rare to find one that’s NOT!” Tucker explained.  “It’s well maintained as long as they have a food source, normally a friend or volunteer… sometimes a mate.  Some actually don’t need to feed much at all, like Phantom.”

Vlad swallowed down another wave of nausea.  “Food source…?” he asked, against his better judgement.  “…C-Can feeders take energy from normal humans…?”

“Oh no, no, see, it’s the energy in the ectoplasm that the feeders need,” the older man said, not really catching on to the weird question.  “Really, it’s not so bad.  A little strange, but it’s how most ghosts ARE.  No one really gets hurt by it, and usually it’s easy to find a volunteer.  Like women and asking for menstrual stuff, y’know?  They understand your pain.  Only the young and uninformed ghosts would cause any trouble, and it’s normally straightened out quickly.  Ghosts are fast healers and are pretty much MADE for taking and sharing energy.  It’s just how it is.”

“Mm.”  Another piece of proof that Danny was Phantom; it seemed Tucker had forgotten the holes in his lie about fully human Danny getting bit.

Tucker waved his hands around as he explained, getting further and further into his lecture mode and pretty much forgetting exactly who he was talking to.  “Now, they don’t need to consume tons of energy at a time, most can feed once every one, or even two weeks,” he said.  “It’s manageable. However, some feeders are more intune with their primal side then others, and can grow possessive of some other ghost they feed on.  When that happens, they mark them.  It’s like, a feeding bite that scars and never fades.”

He grimaced a little as he thought about it.  He knew it was natural, but for it to happen to his best friend like that, against his will…  

“It’s a claim.  It lets every other ghost know that THAT ghost is spoken for, marked.  No one else can feed from them, and normally, if the signature is strong enough, all other ghosts will know EXACTLY who that ghost belongs to…”

The man frowned, looking contemplative.  “Most feeders end up taking a marked as a mate over time, because of how compatible and close they become…  It’s… natural, apparently…”

He was quiet for a moment, then shook his head and laughed.  “Hah, sorry, guess I gave you a bit of a crash course there on ghost types!  Sorry about that!”

Vlad’s expression contracted in worry.  The way Tucker was acting… had he accidentally marked Danny?  Or worse, had he marked Danny on purpose and didn’t know?   Still, there would be no reason why he – in his situation – would ask about mating marks.  So he let it go.

“No problem…” Vlad whispered, his throat parched and his stomach empty.  “Thanks for telling me.”

“You okay, kid?”

The silver-haired boy glanced at him with weary eyes.  “I’m just tired… I need sleep…”

“Oh!  Of course you do!  Sorry about that!” Tucker apologized, getting up and brushing off his pants.  “Danny said he’d call or skype you when he can, but I’ll let him know you’re pretty tired and might not answer.”

“Thanks…”

The man frowned at Vlad’s answer, but nodded, collected his jacket, and left, shutting the door behind him as quietly as he could.  Tucker walked down the hall, his expression troubled.  //That kid must be in a bad place if he’d thank me for an excuse not to talk to Danny…// he thought worriedly.  //I have to finish that paperwork, and I promised Paulina we would spend some time together today.  Ugh.//

A nurse came down the hallway rolling a rattling cart, her hips swaying in dark green scrubs.  

//…Maybe I can get one of the interns to volunteer to stay with him.  Or maybe Valerie–//

Tucker’s shoulder collided with the nurse’s.  Whack!

The bespectacled man nearly spun in surprise.  “Oh, I’m sorry, ma’am!  I wasn’t watching where I was–”

“That’s quite alright~” replied a smooth, womanly voice.

Tucker smiled sheepishly and nodded at the icily beautiful redhead, then resumed his way down the hall, muttering to himself.  

The nurse smirked – eyes glowing red for a briefest moment – and then laid her fingers on Vlad’s door.

“Mmmmmm~”

Spectra inhaled, purring with pleasure.  “I don’t think I’ve smelled misery that potent in a long, long time…” she hummed.

The woman adjusted her cart of syringes with a cold rattle of metal, opened the door, and vanished inside.  “Good morning, Vlad~!  We’re going to give you a little shot.  Make you feel ALL better…”

 

~*~

 

“HEY, get down off the couch, Van Halen!  Zaroff, if you’re going to shoot the cat try to actually SHOOT THE CAT!”

“MROW!!”

“That’s my boy.”

Deep in the Ghost Zone – in the now SHARED lair of Mr. & Mrs. Skulker McLain – Danny sat on a fur-covered chair, trying to keep his cup of glowing green… something away from Ember’s twin tyrants.  They seemed to take after their mother and father in equal measure, two tiny humanoid-amphibian hybrid looking creatures with bright green eyes and fiery hair.  Both were about the size of human toddlers as they leaped around, driving an apron-clad Skulker mad trying to keep up with them both.

Ember laughed from her place beside Danny, her long flaming hair flowing loose.  “Ahhh, they’re little rascals.  You were right, honey, their behavior IS a lot easier to laugh at when someone else is dealing with them~!”

Skulker scowled at his wife.  “PLEASE just finish your ‘beverages’ so HE can get going?”

Danny pouted playfully at him.  “Awwww, you’re not still pining for the good ol’ days when I couldn’t kick your ass, are you~?”

“SILENCE!  If my children weren’t here I WOULD–!”

Ember took a peaceful sip of her glowing puree.  “Honey, Van Halen lit your prized pelt on fire again.”

“AH!!  Get over here, you little whelp…!”

“They’re such a lively bunch…”  Danny said fondly as he watched the little ghost children run around and cause all sorts of mischief.  Ember smirked at the wistful, longing note she detected in his voice.  

“Thinkin’ about having your own tykes someday~?”

He laughed, shaking his head.  “Oh, come on Ember, you know there is no ghost core out there compatible with mine!  And since my body stopped aging and growing, I can’t have children with humans either.  Dead swimmers, you could say…”

Her smirk softened to a fond smile.  “Yeah, but you still want some.”

“I do… I really really do…” Danny agreed, watching Skulker chase his sons around.  “Maybe I’ll adopt one day?”

“Ha, forever the hero you are~”  she snorted, then set her drink down as she moved to give him her full attention.  “Now, you came here for more than just a chat I’m sure, so tell me, what’s bothering ya, babypop?”

Danny sighed and put his own drink down, running a hand through his floating, snowy hair.  “I’m actually on a sabbatical for a little while, taking a break here in the Zone.  So I’ll actually be around if you’d like me to babysit one night.”

“YES, PLEASE!”  hollered Skulker as he dragged Zaroff back into the living room.

The halfa chuckled, then he sighed and turned back to Ember.  “The other reason I’m here is to get your advice… or opinion, rather…” he admitted.

He swallowed, then decided to just dive in, words rushing together as he unzipped his suit and revealed his throat.  “I got fed on last night by a ghost and I think I got marked and I need you to tell me how bad it is…  Please…”

Both Skulker and Ember froze.  

Zaroff wriggled free and attacked his brother, tumbling across the floor.  “RAWR!”

Despite the noise their children were making, the two older ghosts leaned in, examining Danny’s exposed throat.  Twin jagged crescent moons – glowing a soft blue-green and slightly raised against his snowy blue skin, the mark was visible even from a distance.

“Goodness, it’s a good thing you have a high collar,” Skulker muttered.

Ember touched the scar, marveling over their size.  “I can’t believe YOU got the chomp!  Who did this?”

Danny flushed, green eyes looking away a second in embarrassment.  “A newborn, actually… Caught me by surprise.  For a recently born ghost, he… he had an oddly high ‘influence’, more skilled than most ghosts I’ve met…”

He sighed, dropping his fingers away from the yet to heal scar.  “Also… he was a fire core.  A TRUE fire core…”

Skulker grinned toothily.  “Sounds like a good target~”

Danny snorted, shaking his head.  “You manage to catch him, you let me know.  I need to get that punk to revoke his mark!”

He looked at Ember.  “It is a mark, isn’t it?” he asked.  “I mean I… I know I’ve never been bitten before, so I wouldn’t really know the difference between bites, but, I don’t know… it feels… different?”

Ember sighed and shook her head, her flaming hair flickering in resignation.  “Wow, kiddo, I don’t know what to tell ya,” she told Danny.  “A mark this big might not be able to be revoked completely.  You can always go to the Observants – they have ways of removing unwanted marks – but you gotta wait decades for an application to go through, I hear.”

The halfa’s eyes widened.  “Y-you mean it… he actually managed to trigger it into a FULL claiming mark?!  But… but he was just born!  How could he already have that kind of power behind a bite to… to claim ME??  I… oh god…”

Danny slumped back, eyes impossibly wide as he paled even further at the implications.  “I’m bonded to an actual STRANGER…  I… I never even had a CHOICE in the matter… I don’t… I…”

He put his head in his hands, moaning in distress.  “Oh my god… I’ve been forced to take the first step of mating…  with some punk ass ghost, who I don’t even know the NAME of!  What is my LIFE?!”

Ember patted his shoulder.  “Danny, calm down.  You’re immortal, right?  Just send in the application to the Observants!  Talk to Clockwork, I’m sure he can pull some strings for you to get it removed sooner.”

Skulker piped up.  “Or I could just hunt him down and destroy him.  The would-be mate of Phantom is almost as good as Phantom himself!”

“I swear, if you think you could ever beat babypop in a REAL FIGHT, you’re having your midlife crisis,” the female frowned at her husband.  She turned back to Danny.  “And anyway, that would only weaken the mark, not erase it.  However, it’s kinda interesting!”

The green-eyed ghost stared at her.  “What is?”

“Well, usually claiming marks only occur with someone you have an established connection to,” Ember said, picking up her cup again.  “Like, take me and World’s Greatest Tin Can over there.  I didn’t give him a claiming mark until we’d been dating, like, three years.”

Skulker frowned.  “Ember…”

“And then I knocked him up with Zaroff just last January, so–”

“EMBER!”

“Oh, enough with your 80s masculinity issues, that’s your old human side talking.  It’s the 21st century, Skulker.  Deal with the fact that dudes can carry babies here.  I had Van Halen, and did I complain?”

Skulker sighed and sat on the floor, pouting.  Ember rolled her eyes, but patted him on the head and downed the last of her puree.  “Anyway, yeah.  So, you sure you didn’t know this guy?  Or maybe he knew you?”

Danny frowned, thinking.  But after a moment he sighed and shook his head.  “Honestly?  I guess I don’t really know if I knew him or not.  He said he was a young electrician when he died but he could have been lying…  He did ask to speak to me, so he could be someone who visited my cafe…” he frowned deeply.  “No, that can’t be it, because he asked to speak to PHANTOM and I don’t get close to humans any… any more.”

He huffed, running a hand through his hair in aggravation.  “I guess, all I can do now is talk to Clockwork and keep an eye out for this guy.  If we cross paths before the mark is removed, he could renew the bite and further the claim…  Ah, that’s another thing that bothered me.”

Danny looked back up at Ember, curious.  “He sorta… sorta hypnotized me.  I hadn’t felt like that since that issue with Freakshow.  It wasn’t, like… really bad like that though.  More like an outside force softly subduing me?  Encouraging me to submit?  But I didn’t think ghosts could force a mark…  they could force a bite, but a full on mark…”

His fingers came up to run along the scar, swallowing.  “Could… could he really be just that powerful?  Even though he was just born?”

Ember raised a brow.  “How big were his teeth?”

Danny swallowed again, cheeks turning a shade greener as the ectoplasm ran to his face.  “Ah… well… Okay, in all honestly here, I haven’t seen teeth that big since Aragon.”

He glanced over at Skulker, knowing the older ghost would understand the implications of what he was about to say.  “In fact… they were only just smaller than Pariah’s… and this ghost isn’t fully GROWN yet…”

Skulker grimaced.  “Okay, that guy better learn how to retract those things.”

“That’s what I said!”

Ember frowned thoughtfully… then rubbed her face and sighed.  “Well, yeah, in that case that’s honestly the best advice I can give ya.  Avoid the fanged dipstick and talk to the time dork.”

“Yeah, guess that’s all I CAN do…”  Danny muttered, crossing his arms.  “Maybe I can even find some information in Ghost Writer’s library or something…”

He then turned to look Ember straight in the eye, face contorted in an outraged, indignant pout.  “Seriously though, his fangs were indecently large, that was just NOT fair… I’ve been a ghost for over fifteen years and mine are tiny.  TINY!  My ghost core already evolved years ago and I SWEAR they just got smaller… Just not fair, man…”

“Awwwww, don’t feel bad, babypop!” Ember smirked.  “Skulker got no fangs at all.  And the ladies LOVE those adorable little chompers of yours~”

Danny snorted, rolling his eyes even as he smiled.  “Yeah yeah, if you say so~”

HIs smile got a little wider as he sat up, changing the subject.  “Well, before I fly off to check in with Clockwork, you said you had a new ballad to show me?”

Ember opened her mouth to reply, only to have the twins come running by at that moment, rolling around; they tackled each other before launching at the couch and into Danny’s side.  The halfa grunted at the impact, before grinning and turning to tackle the little ghosties himself, causing them to squeal with laughter as he tickled them with icy digits.  Ember laughed as the boys dragged Danny off the couch and onto the floor, an all out tickle war commencing.  

Danny laughed heartily as he lifted one little ghost over his head, the other climbing him like a jungle gym.  “Skulker, seriously, I will totally babysit, you just pick a day!”

“Tomorrow,” Skulker deadpanned.  “I want tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow might actually be good…” Ember mused, raising an eyebrow at their slightly charred, chewed-on lair.

Danny smiled.  “Sure!”

His expression grew soft, wistful, as he formed an ice block for Zaroff to chew on.  “I left a friend back there, but he’s in good hands.  Nothing will happen to him, I’m absolutely sure…”

 

~*~

 

“There we go…”

Spectra smiled as she pushed down on the plunger, softly injecting Vlad with a medical depressant.  

The young man barely responded to the tiny prick, and didn’t look at her even when she pulled out the needle and sat down.  “You poor baby~” she cooed, placing it to the side and stroking back his sweaty hair from his forehead.  “You look terrible!  Why don’t you tell me what’s wrong~?”

Vlad gazed up at the ceiling, eyes dead and empty.  “…Why should I…?”

He could feel something slowing his heart, dragging it down and crushing his lungs like a lump of iron.  It took real effort to pull air into his body… but he could hardly be bothered to care anymore.  “It’s not like you would understand…”

“Oh, you’d be surprised what I can understand~!” Spectra replied, chipper and smiling.  “Which part do you not wanna talk about?”

There was a moment of silence…

Then, a single tear slipped from Vlad’s eye – trailing down his hollow cheek, staining his pillow.  “All of it…!” he whispered.

Spectra held in a sigh of pleasure at the waves of pure agony flowing off the boy.  “Awwwww, that stinks!” she chirped.  “I read your file, too.  Tragic, really!  Nobody to love or care for you, not even friends or family!  You’ve had to fight the world your WHOLE LIFE, haven’t you?  And what do you have to show for it~?”

More tears streamed down Vlad’s cheeks.  “Stop it…”

“Your own MOMMY didn’t even want you, put you in foster care as soon as you were born!  I bet that’s really ironic, now that I bet you wish you’ve never even BEEN BORN.  After all, as soon as you get out of the hospital, you’ll be crushed by financial debt~!”

Spectra sneered.  “Your credit will be ruined, you’ll never be able to be hired or even get an apartment of your own!  If you had any self-worth BEFORE, all that’s gonna go RIGHT.  DOWN.  THE TOILET~!”

Vlad grit his teeth, bony hands pressing into his eyes.  “Shut up…!” he sobbed.

It had been so long.  He had been fighting for a decent life for so, so long.  He had always tried to keep his faith in the concept that the world could be fair, that hard work and diligence and a smile could carry him where other people wouldn’t!  But it hadn’t made a difference in the long run, had it?  All those countless days of no sleep, of studying, of struggle… All of it, for a life sleeping on someone’s couch, a life bought by the pity of a good samaritan…

“I don’t wanna live a life like that…” the young man whispered, his throat closing up and his vision blurry with tears.  They flowed from his eyes freely now, wetting his pillow and catching in his ears.  “I’m so tired… I just don’t want to live like that…!  I CAN’T…”

“And to think, it was all caused by one little missed class~” Spectra purred.

Suddenly, the young man went still.  

Spectra blinked.  

The roiling misery had abruptly stopped its flow.  What was–?

“One little missed class…”

Vlad’s voice was hoarse with despair – and something new.  “You’re right…” he rasped.  Slowly, he lowered his thin arms, his streaming eyes staring up at the ceiling, unblinking.  “All this happened… because I slept in on midterms…”

Spectra cleared her throat, eager to get back to that lovely misery and not this strange, growing sensation in the air like lightning before it struck.  “Yes, that’s right!  Anyway–”

A broken voice interrupted her.  “And that happened…”

Like a marionette pulled by strings, Vlad slowly sat up – eyes wide, blank, and burning scarlet.  “That happened…” he whispered.  “Because… Phantom zapped me.”

“Uh, Vlad honey?”

“Danny zapped me.”

“Vlad.”

Vlad’s voice was gaining strength, the temperature in the room increasing slowly but surely as his glowing eyes trailed down to the wall.  “He interfered.  He thought he knew what was best for me, but his decision ruined my life…” he realized, in a low, furious murmur.  “This is all his fault.”

Spectra eyed the young man’s skin, where the milky solution of her depressant was beginning to bead and drip down into the covers.  “Ah…?”

Vlad clenched his fist, eyes bleeding red.  “THIS IS ALL HIS FAULT!!”

He brought it down on the bed.  WHUMP!

The female ghost blinked at his fist, then cautiously leaned forward.  “Uhhhh, yeah, Vlad honey?” she interrupted, giving him a little smile.  Vlad stiffened.  “Mayyyyybe we could go back to the ‘I can’t live like this’ bit…?”

Glowing scarlet eyes turned on her.  

Spectra leaned back, tucking her hand close in alarm.  That sensation was getting stronger.  Like something very heavy was looming over her–

“YOU…” Vlad whispered.

He turned – his movements eerily smooth – to face the woman, his ghostly eyes pinning her against her chair.  “Don’t act like you care…” he hissed.  Huge fangs unsheathed from his gums.  Spectra swallowed, glancing panickedly between his face and those massive teeth.  “You’re a ghost… I CAN SMELL IT…”

Suddenly, for the first time in centuries, Spectra had an emotion she hadn’t experienced in a long, long time.

Fear.

She yelped and went for the door, floating off her feet to move faster, but Vlad was even quicker.  Spectra screeched as she felt his hand clamp down on her hair – skin and bone, but somehow filled with the strength of ten men – and rip her back towards him.  “GET OFF ME!!” she cried, scrambling against him.  She grabbed at his short white hair, tearing out a chunk, but Vlad didn’t even seem to notice.

He stretched his jaws wide… and sunk his fangs deep into her throat.

Whatever he had been expecting, this was not it.  Spectra’s core energy stank like a black slime of a swamp, like the cracked sludge left in gutters after a year of drought.  Vlad almost released her – screaming – at the vile taste that coated his tongue, but fury overcame it.  

He ripped at her mercilessly.

Claws unsheathed from the beds of his nails, punching deep into her flesh and ripping it away to reveal the wrinkled crone beneath.  Lightbulbs burst from the skyrocketing heat.  Green and black blood poured out onto the ground, only to boil and cook against the tile.  Spectra cried and screamed and begged, her hair and skin catching in fuchsia flames…!

But as he continued, her struggles weakened.  Her screams went quiet.  Her hands slowly went limp, dropping her small fistful of silver hair into the spreading pool of bubbling ectoplasm…

And finally, her core winked out.

Vlad dropped her like a hot brick, screeching in fury and disgust – his skin blue like a gasoline flame, hair black as pitch, his eyes crimson as human blood, and his core singing for vengeance.  

He whirled on the window.  With a wave of his hand, it shattered, raining glass onto the people below.  

_**CRASH!** _

“Look out!!”

Screams of panic were a harmony to Vlad’s little furious song… but for some reason, it wasn’t enough.  He wanted to be closer… he wanted more.  He wanted to show them just how badly the world could treat them, just give them a TASTE–!

He took a step towards the window… and suddenly, a barrel of a gun settled against the back of his head, ripping Vlad from his trance.

“Stop right there.”

Vlad blinked slowly – his pointed ears flicking up inquisitively – and raised his nose to the air, sniffing.  Oh, it was hazy from his human memories but he knew that scent…

The dark-haired ghost sighed, pressing down the kindling flames inside of him.  “Valerie Grey…”

Valerie kept her narrowed eyes locked on the ghost, even as she twitched to look down at the remains of another ghost she would be hard pressed to miss.  But this… this had been a massacre.  She had never seen anything like it and she didn’t WANT to see anything like it happen again.  “Who are you?”  she demanded, voice sharp and angry.  “Where is the human that was in this room?  What did you do to him?”

Her eyes flickered over the blue skin and pointed ears, catching sight of sharp fangs and red eyes.  Her expression morphed to one of shock for just a moment.

The ghost that marked Danny…

Valerie scowled, gripping her pistol with both hands.  “Who are you?!”

“…A victim of misfortune, you could say.”

Vlad slowly turned, his glowing scarlet eyes glancing her over.  He kept his body language neutral and relaxed; he might have potential and perhaps beginner’s luck at this point, but he knew it wouldn’t be enough to beat the Red Huntress.  His best chance was to talk this out.  “I’ll choose my name soon,” he informed her.

The furious flames in his chest shrieked for blood.  He quelled them with a wince.  “Right now, I’d be hard-pressed to give you a proper answer.”

“Stop bullshitting me and tell me where Vladimir Masters is!” Valerie ordered, finger on the trigger.

Vlad twitched, his wrath flaring up.  How dare she point a WEAPON at him?!  Who did she think she was?!  

“Take that gun out of my face… please,” he grimaced.

“Where’s Vlad?!” Valerie shot back.

The ghost snarled and slapped her gun to one side.  “HE’S GONE!  GET THAT THING OUT OF MY FACE!!”

The gun began to hum, manufactured ecto energy blazing brightly in the barrel as the safety was released.  Dark eyes blazed back at him in fury, unafraid.  She took a step back, gun once more aimed at him, right between his eyes.  

“He can’t just be GONE!”  she snapped.  “Quit playing games with me and tell me where he is!  What did you do to him?!”

It was all Vlad could do to keep from throwing himself at the Red Huntress and squeezing the life from her bones.

“And what if he IS just GONE?”

The ghost made an exaggerated, mocking flutter with his fingers.  “What if he was just… spirited away?” he hissed, smiling at her with his black-stained fangs.  “What can you do, hm?  These things just happen.  Right?  Sometimes unexpected things just HAPPEN!  RIGHT?!”

Her eye twitched as she forced herself not to react to the words.  “What the eff are you talking about–”

Vlad let out a frustrated sigh, pacing furiously back and forth and murmuring hotly to himself; Valerie followed his head with her pistol.  “I’m saying… ugh, saying, saying…!”

He finally stopped and looked her in the eye again.  “I’m saying… that I may have been the best thing that ever happened to Vlad…” he informed the huntress softly.  

He took a slow step back, towards the window.  “He was a mess of a human being.  I helped him.”

“Stay right where you are!”  Valerie ordered, starting to panic as she felt she was losing the only witness, or suspect, to what had happened to Vlad.  “What do you mean?  How did you possibly help him?!  What did you DO?!”

Vlad took another step.  “That’s a good question…” he mused quietly.

What HAD this done to him?  His life as a human, it would be gone if he left now.  But even if he stopped, confessed, what would the world think of him?  No, it was too late.  This place had nothing for him, and it never had.  All the living world had done was be cruel and unforgiving to him, dealing him the worst of cards that he could never give back.  //Danny may have ruined my life, but he’s also one of the few that were kind to me…// Vlad thought to himself, taking one more step.  //So… I won’t go after him.  I’ll disappear, without a trace.  That way, we’re even.  That way… I’ll have cut all my ties.  I’ll never have to return to this life…//

His back pressed against the open windowsill.  “…I have a message for Phantom.”

He looked up at Valerie.  “You’ll deliver it to him.  In return, I promise that you’ll never see me in these parts again.”

The huntress stepped closer, wild-eyed.  She couldn’t shoot him but she didn’t want him to get away!  “Step away from that window!” she yelled.

“Tell Phantom…”

Vlad’s burning eyes met hers.  “…that HE killed Vlad Masters.”

“DON’T YOU DARE–!”

He leapt from the building.  

Heart racing, Valerie dashed forward, grabbed the edge, and stared down at the ground, then up at the sky.  Aside from the shattered glass on the sidewalk below, there was no sign that the ghost had ever been there.  The huntress swore violently and set her spectral detectors on their highest setting, opening her communications to Fentonworks.  “This is Red Huntress broadcasting on all channels!  I need a medical team and signature-reading team at my current location NOW!” she barked as she ran from the room.  “Capture squads, be on the lookout for a flame-based entity!  Blue skin, red eyes, humanoid, appears as a male in his early twenties!  Large fangs!  Unknown classification!  Be extremely cautious!”

But even as she raced from the hospital and rose up into the air, Valerie had a sinking feeling in her chest that it was all in vain.  Vlad was gone…

And it was all their fault…


End file.
